


Pieces of You

by m_feys



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Short One Shot, eh? is that a good joke?, past trauma, petting (not anything weird just comforting), rated t for cursing, rated t for trauma, set after gotg 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 18:18:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15954881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_feys/pseuds/m_feys
Summary: rewatched the first movie after seeing the second movie for the first time a few days ago and ive had a lot of personal stuff going on and felt like writing this.not relevent to when this is set but ive never seen infinity war and im not gonnathis was very quick and i did only a little editing, also i switched tenses at lease once while i was writing it originally so i apologize for any mistakes





	Pieces of You

**Author's Note:**

> rewatched the first movie after seeing the second movie for the first time a few days ago and ive had a lot of personal stuff going on and felt like writing this.
> 
> not relevent to when this is set but ive never seen infinity war and im not gonna
> 
> this was very quick and i did only a little editing, also i switched tenses at lease once while i was writing it originally so i apologize for any mistakes

When Drax first reaches out to touch him, he startles, just as they all would. Expecting any touch, contact, interaction to be violent or hostile. Just as it had been for all of them before they came to know each other before they saved each other.  
Drax smoothes a hand down coarse hair in a way he knows to be comforting and doesn't stop until Nova forces are coming to get them and Rocket stands to be escorted to their headquarters, still clutching that stick close. Drax stays with him, he knows what it is to lose someone, and knows what it is to be alone with that feeling.

When they’re sitting in a room, silent as Rocket has stopped weeping even as he still holds the piece of his friend close. After they’ve been offered clothes, Drax removes himself to wash and change pants when he returns, the small animal still has not budged.

“Are you not going to change?”

Rocket says nothing and curls in further.

“Surely you would be more comfortable.”

“Fuck off,” he mutters but it doesn't have any heat in it.

Drax sits next to him, preparing to speak and reaching one hand to pet him again, but as he does, Rocket flinches away and growls.

“Don’t touch me.”

Drax tilts his head and looks down at him, not understanding.

“Go find some other _dog_ to pet and comfort yourself with,” he hisses.

“You are clearly not a dog,” Drax begins.

“Yeah, I know, I’m a ve--” Rocket tries to cut back but stops when Drax continues.

“And I was not comforting myself. You are not very soft or cuddly,” he points out and Rocket turns away again.

“Yeah, well, I’m fine,” he mutters back.

Drax blinks at him. “You are not. And it is no good to wallow, you should change.”

“I’m not wallowing,” Rocket denies again, but his voice breaks as he's saying it.

“Here, I will help you,” Drax offers, reaching for him again.

“Don’t touch me,” he repeats softly but doesn't resist when Drax pulls him up and starts to search for the clasp on his clothes. Rocket only slouches in his hands as he loosens the zipper down the small animal’s back.

“You should probably bathe, as I did, but that can wa…” he trails off as he notices the fur on the creatures back disappears just below where the collar is pulled away, and pink flesh is revealed around metal protrusions in the Rocket’s back, and he stiffens under Drax's hands. “What are these?” He asks, staring down at them, was this shrapnel? Was the beast injured and had failed to seek help?

“Implants,” he answers quietly.

“What are they for?”

“Everything,” his shoulders shift slightly under Drax’s hands, “my enhanced brain function, my nervous system, my… spine, wasn’t strong enough to support the genetic mutations they induced to give me my size and posture so… they, implanted metal all down my back. Nice, huh?” he says flatly, “makes me look even more like a patchwork… _thing_.”

“Shh,” Drax smooths a hand to the fur on his head once more then.

“What? You asked,” the animal responds, sounding a little more annoyed and less like he’s given up.

Drax smiles slightly, but simply shushes him again and smoothes a hand down his fur again.

“Why are you shushing me!?” He demands, twisting away from Drax’s hands.

“You are not a thing,” he assures, petting him again. “Now, ssshhhh.”

Rocket seems to relax in his hands slightly as mutters, “yeah, whatever.”

Again, he smooths a hand down coarse fur, then slowly and reluctantly runs his hand down to the implants. Rocket starts to arch away from the feeling but calms as he gently soothes his hand down his back, before retracting it to his head again to renew the motion.

“This is part of you,” Drax speaks, petting him still. It isn’t pretty, sure, the way his skin is welted around the implants or the way they bear bald patches all around them. And it isn’t very pleasant to touch either. But it is part of what made him, and Rocket is his friend.  
He relaxed his weight into Drax’s hand now, letting himself be soothed. Rocket let out a shuddering breath as he ran his hand down the metal implants again.

“I wish it wasn’t," It's all but a whisper, rare for the creature.

“You wish your spine did not function?” He asks carefully, caution is just as rare for him, but this time calls for it.

“I wish… It didn’t have to. I wish I wasn’t like this, always in pain.” He pauses his petting at that.

“Is this painful for you?”

“No more than usual,” the animal answered simply and Drax went back to smoothing his hand down his back. “I’ve… never had someone touch it before… other than, when they were experimenting on me,” he admitted.

“How does it feel?”

“Weird.” he answered instantly, “it feels really weird.”

Drax nods, then the animal is easing himself up away from leaning on Drax and he withdraws his hand.  
“Hand me those,” he requests, gesturing to the clothes as he starts to pull the jumpsuit off. Drax grabs them and sets them next to him while he waits.

When he’s done changing, Drax pulls the zipper up before he can watch him struggle to reach around his back, to Rocket's mild annoyance. then Rocket is settling into the couch next to him, whiskers and fur tickling his side. Shifting uncomfortably until he gets somewhat used to the unfamiliar sensation, he looks down to see Rocket has pulled the broken branch into his lap and is staring down at it.

“This is all that’s left of my best friend.”

Drax replaces his hand on Rocket’s head, stroking a thumb next to his ear. “And there is nothing that can replace it,” Drax adds somberly and fur is shifting under his hand as Rocket turns to look up at him.  
Beady eyes focus on him, shining with tears again. Then the animal is folding into him, sobbing again as he presses his face to Drax’s side. He wants to shift away from the unfamiliar feeling, wet nose and a furry face pressed into his side. Instead, he stays still and lets him find comfort, easing his arm around him.

“I know,” he says softly, words joining the sound of sobs, “I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> comments are always appreciated <3 though i dont always respond


End file.
